Daily Meditations
Read today's Just for Today or A Spiritual Principle A Day readings.
Just for Today
January 19, 2026 |
Making mountains into molehills |
| Page 19 |
| "When we stop living in the here and now, our problems become magnified unreasonably." |
| Basic Text, p. 99 |
| Some of us seem to make mountains out of molehills with our problems. Even those of us who've found some measure of serenity have probably blown a problem far out of proportion at some time in our recovery--and if we haven't done so yet, we probably will before long! When we find ourselves obsessed with a complication in our lives, we will do well to sharply remind ourselves of all that is going right. Perhaps we're afraid we won't be able to pay our bills for the month. Instead of sitting at the calculator, adding our financial liabilities over and over, we can take stock of our efforts to reduce expenses. Following this mini-inventory, we continue with the task at hand and remind ourselves that as long as we are doing the footwork, a loving Higher Power will care for our lives. Mountain-sized problems happen sometimes, but we don't need to create them. Trust in a loving God of our understanding will put most of our problems in their proper perspective. We no longer need to create chaos to feel excited about our lives. Our recovery gives us countless real-life opportunities for excitement and drama. |
| Just for Today: I will take a realistic look at my problems and see that most of them are minor. I will leave them that way and enjoy my recovery. |
A Spiritual Principle a Day
January 19, 2026 |
Contributing Our Creativity |
| Page 19 |
| "Some of us discover that we have talents for contributing to the world in other ways, whether through our creativity, our empathy, or our addict ability to focus on one thing and do it 'til it's done." |
| Living Clean, Chapter 1, "A Vision of Hope" |
| In NA, we often recall how drugs ruined our lives and how our innate talents were ultimately no match for our disease. When we were using, however, many of us believed that the drugs we used were fundamentally responsible for the positive contributions we made to our lives. Drugs allowed us to be confident about expressing ourselves socially, artistically, and sexually. They helped us fall asleep at night and wake up in the morning so that we could be there for our kids after work and before school. Using gave us laser-sharp focus and heightened our productivity at work, which pleased our employers and soothed our insecurities. Still, we eventually came crashing down. As one member put it, "I thought I was high functioning, but it turns out I was just high." When we first get clean, we are terrified that our performance will suffer and we'll disappoint others. With no drugs, we believe we are no longer creative beings or we're talentless hacks who never were. We doubt we'll be able to function, let alone complete projects on a deadline. Will our families still love us, because, surely, we'll be less easygoing and fun? And what about sex? As we heal, we begin to understand that the deep well of our creativity, our empathy, and our focus comes from developing a more honest relationship with ourselves and a connection to a Higher Power. We learn to acknowledge and release--even a tiny bit--our need for perfection and validation. Our expectations of ourselves become more realistic, and that gives us more integrity in how we contribute to our lives. We refocus the wasted energy we spent comparing ourselves to others toward being of service to fellow addicts and to our loved ones. And we may even discover new talents and abilities we never knew we had. |
| ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— |
| I know I have something to offer the world. If I don't know what it is, I'm willing to ask for help to find out. If I already know, let me seek guidance on how to deliver it with humility and generosity. |